Kathmandu seems least bothered about the grievances of the Madhesis by terming the Nov 12 India-UK Joint Statement that suggested Nepal to ensure its Constitution is inclusive as interference in Nepal’s internal affair
In the recently published Joint Statement of the UK-India Summit on November 12, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart David Cameron wanted Nepal’s newly promulgated Constitution to be made inclusive. lack of inclusivity in the Constitution is one of the main reasons for the current Madhesi uprising in the country. As many as 50 protesters have been killed and hundreds wounded in police action.
However, Kathmandu seems least bothered about the grievances of the protesters. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal reacted strongly against the Joint Statement on the ground that Constitution-making was an internal affair of the Himalayan country. A message has been given that international community, including India and Britain, should not intervene in Nepal’s internal affairs as the country itself is capable of handling the situation.
If the Nepal Government is really in a position to handle the Madhesi unrest, why is it that dozens of protesters have been killedIJ Why is it that the protests against the Constitution have been continuing unabated not only on the Nepalese soil but also in foreign countriesIJ Why is it that the agitation against the Constitution has been polarising the mass and creating immense financial hardship for the common peopleIJ
In fact, the agitating Madhesi, Tharu and other indigenous communities want to settle issues over the allegedly biased Constitution internally, without any external mediation. However, it is the Government and major political parties of the country which are bent upon internationalising the Constitutional issue. Had it not been so, they would have negotiated with the Madhesi and Tharu leaders and settle the issues by addressing their grievances.
Nepal’s Foreign Minister visited New Delhi twice, apart from meeting Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bengaluru, to impress upon Indian establishment to resolve the Madhesi crisis particularly to clear economic blockade, while it is well known that the blockade was imposed by the Madhesi and Tharu agitating groups. The agitators have been obstructing the supply of goods from India to Nepal at the main custom points, including at Birgunj-Raxaul border to pressurise the Nepal Government to address their demands. They moved to border areas only after the security agencies treated them brutally inside the country.
In another instance of internationalising the internal crisis, the Nepal Government approached China to ensure the supply of oil and other essentials through its northern border. But due to its own limitations, China has done very little to help Nepal with required resources.
Intriguingly, an attempt is being made by the Nepalese Prime Minister and some of his cabinet colleagues, including Deputy Prime Minister, to malign India internationally by holding it responsible for the economic blockade. Even the country’s diplomatic missions in foreign countries are believed to have been engaged in activities aimed at dragging India into the controversy.
Parallel protests in support and against the Constitution have been organised by the Nepalese diasporas in foreign countries. The activists of the foreign-based Madhesi groups hold the Nepal Government responsible for all the troubles in the country. They support the economic blockade by their community on the Nepal-India border. Protests against and in favour of the economic blockade by the Nepalese diasporas in london, New York, Washington, DC, New Delhi and other capital cities of the world have further raised controversies over the Constitution.
People closer to power centre in Nepal have burnt the Indian flags along with the effigies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the only reason that New Delhi took a note of the promulgation of new Constitution, but it desisted from welcoming it. On the other side, the Chinese flags have also been burnt in the Terai region of Nepal for the reason that it outright supported the Constitution that discriminated against the Madhesi and Tharu ethnic communities.
However, it is nothing but ignorance that certain political parties in India, including the CPI(M) and the Indian National Congress, support the most controversial Constitution of Nepal that has compelled the Madhesi and Tharu communities to go on indefinite strike in the country. On the other hand, the BJP and other parties of NDA, apart from the Indian inhabitants along Nepal’s border, who understand the ground realities better, feel that the agitation by the Madhesis and the Tharus against the biased Constitution is justified.
The international community have largely been sympathetic to the Madhesi uprising because they are now aware of the fact that there was hardly any representation of the Madhesi-based political parties in the Constitution-making process, though the Madhesis, Tharus and Janajatis in the region form over half of the country’s total population. Excesses committed by the police in suppressing the peaceful protests in different parts of Terai also made them sympathetic towards their cause. International human rights organisations such as the US-based Human Rights Watch and the Amnesty International have given wider publicity to the gross human rights violations in Nepal.
There cannot be two opinions that Nepal has developed certain humanitarian crisis due to the economic blockade imposed by the Madhesis. Most of the people in the country have not been receiving needed supply of medicines, food and fuels. But who is responsible for thisIJ Of the nine trading points between Nepal and India, essential items, including food, medicines and oil are still entering Nepal from India through certain custom points. The supply of goods from India to Nepal has somewhat reduced to one-third, still hundreds of truckloads of goods, including oil tankers, keep on coming to Nepal.
In fact, the common Nepalese population have been suffering not so much due to the shortage of goods but more so due to the failure of the Government to ensure their distribution. Such anti-social elements as the black- marketeers and hoarders have been thriving in the country. Surprisingly though, the Government so far has not taken any action against them, which is creating suspicion in the minds of international community towards the intentions of the ruling elites of the country.
By all accounts, Nepal’s long-term peace and stability cannot be restored until the present Constitution is made inclusive. For this, the Constitution has to be amended in a way that it meets the aspirations of Madhesis, Tharus and other indigenous groups. Economic blockade will not last long if the Government is really sincere in its purpose of diffusing the crisis through negotiations with the deprived communities. Towards this end, the Joint Statement made by India and Britain to make the Nepalese Constitution inclusive should be taken more as a friendly advice than an issue of intervention in the country’s internal affairs. There should not be any doubt that only the inclusive Constitution is the panacea of the present political crisis in Nepal.
(The writer is Executive Director of Centre for Economic and Technical Studies, Kathmandu)
